Canine Hip Dysplasia

Factual Questions
1

a) When I got my Schnauzer, I asked the Vet what illnesses run with this breed. While he said nothing in particular, I recall him mentioning that little dogs are MORE prone to hip dysplasia than the larger dogs - contrary to public opinion. I was hoping someone in the field might help verify this.

b) Is it 100% true that wolves do not exhibit hip dysplasia? I find this statement hard to accept on face value. Maybe the truth is that this statement requires a qualifying disclaimer. What orgs would know for sure, Sierra Club?

2

While I can’t answer for sure(I’m not a vet nor do I play one on TV), I have always heard that hip dysplasia has come about as a result of intensive breeding programs that go along with the purebred strains of dogs.

I have run into dysplasia on Labs before, but was never aware of the problem in small dogs. I’m really not a small dogs person though.

To my knowledge all you can really do is get proof from the breeder that the parents had their hips examined and were dysplasia free. This doesn’t mean your dog won’t have hip dysplasia just that he/she would be less prone to having it.

Hope your dog is dysplasia free otherwise get the Tylenol.

3

According to this site

4

Now here’s a topic I know quite a bit about.

First and foremost, let me nuke the idea that Hip Dysplasia (CHD) is related to “purebred” dogs.

CHD is a polygenic disease - it takes a specific combination of genes to cause it to appear. The best way to avoid picking a dog that could develop CHD is to be sure that the parents are screened by a team of radiologists like the OFA (Orthopedic Foundation for Animals), and that both parents have OFA Good or OFA Excellent hips. While these evaluations do not guarentee that your dog will not develop a degenerative joint disease like CHD, it does narrow down the chance. Generally, two OFA good parents will produce 5-10% dysplastic offspring, or less.

The major problem we face today with CHD is backyard/uninformed breeding, where a dog that looks good is bred to another dog that looks good. These dogs can have hip joints that are not good at all - and hence result in heartbreak for the families who purchased puppies…

CHD is most common in large breeds and mixed-breeds, but because for a long time people believed that little dogs didn’t get CHD, their breeds weren’t screened. This means that dogs with less-than-Good hips were bred, and thus tossed some dogs with CHD into the gene pool (not to mention backyard breeding accidents). A dysplastic dog bred to a dog with Excellent hip conformation will still produce litters of pups where 25% of them are dysplastic. Do this a couple of times, and poof… ya have a problem. So, yes, CHD in small breeds is getting worse. Good, consciencious breeders screen their animals’ hips, eyes, hearts and thyroid. For more info on the whole speil, it’s a good idea to talk to the nice folks at the ofa: http://www.offa.org

As to whether or not a smaller dog has CHD, it does occur quite a bit actually. Some breeds are more prone to developing the disorder than others - for reasons we don’t really understand. CHD is manageable - there are surgical options for treatement, such as TPO or total hip replacement. It’s awefully expensive, too. Medical management is also doable for moderate to severe cases, but is palliative.

Damnation, I should get off my soapbox, eh?

E.

5

I’m pretty sure my vet told me to never give Tylenol to my dog; he told me to use buffered aspirin.

My German Shepherd has dysplasia. It’s really sad to see him try to run and he can’t climb the steps anymore and has a bit of trouble getting up after he has been lying down. Fortunately, the x-rays show that he only has a severe problem in one hip; the other only has minor damage which means he is still able to get around. I give him one aspirin a day, which seems to help with pain; the only time he shows any discomfort is when getting up after lying down.

6

Uh, yeah, please do skip the Tylenol, and only give aspirin as directed by your vet.

7

Ok, got this from the website below.
vetmedicine.about.com/health/vetmedicine/
Q: What about other drugs, like Tylenol® and Advil®?
A: In a word, no. Tylenol can be fatal to cats. Neither drug (acetaminophen and ibuprofen, respectively) is routinely used for arthritis.
(These drugs may be prescribed for your dog by your vet, but only under close supervision and careful dosing.)

I have always heard that cats were an absolute NO on Tylenol but I have had labs with dysplasia and have had the vet recommend Tylenol. The Tylenol worked fine and my dog suffered no ill effects.

I would never jeopardize my dog. She would lay her life on the line for me as I would for her. However, if there is conclusive evidence that dogs should absolutely not be given Tylenol I would like to see it so I can have a discussion with my vet(soon to be former if giving Tylenol is an absolute no-no with dogs).